Many cars have been left crushed after a flooded car park floor level swelled.

Vehicles were squashed between the floor and roof when blocks at the base of the car park swelled as they were lifted up by flood water.

It's believed the floor rose by as much as 6ft which left cars wedged between the two levels.

Residents of Townhall Square in Crayford have been hardest hit by the flooding, which was caused by "a major setback" in Thames Water's bid to repair a 12-inch-wide pipe, which burst in Crayford Road on Tuesday afternoon.

The car park serving the block of flats is supported by layers of polystyrene at the base of the ground floor, which have been lifted up a huge quantity of water and raised parked vehicles up against the ceiling.

Lucas Weatherby, 32, who lives in one of the hundreds of flats in the development, said: "I got up at about 6am, looked outside and saw the flooding just outside the car park, which is built underneath the flats.

"We went outside to check on our car and that's when we saw a group of cars that had been raised by the flooding where the polystyrene had sort of lifted up off the ground.

"Fortunately our car was not affected by it, but there was quite a lot of water in there on the driver's side."

Mr Weatherby said he was warned about the potential of flooding from the nearby River Cray when he moved in to his flat, which he says makes the presence of polystyrene at the base of the car park somewhat baffling.

He continued: "It amazes me - I had no idea that there was polystyrene under the parking spaces and people are very angry and upset, understandably so."

Sadia Farzana Chitra, 42, also lives in Townhall Square, which overlooks Crayford High Street and the Tower Retail Park, called kmfm on Sunday morning to say she was trapped in her home because of the flooding.

She said: “Everything is completely submerged. My car park is at the back of the block and that is totally underwater — about five or six cars are completely gone.

“It is very devastating. My car and my neighbour’s car, which is a van, are damaged and the firefighters took a picture of them for us and told me it could be a write-off.

“You do not know how much it could end up costing you. The road is also completely damaged and it is blocked.”

Housing association Gallions is responsible for the development. A spokesman said: "We have been on-site throughout the day assisting Thames Water, the fire brigade and the police following the burst water main in Crayford town centre.

"All Gallions residents are safe, have clean water and there has been no water ingress into anyone's home.

"Water has damaged some people's cars in the car park, and Thames Water have advised that they will have officers based at the library tomorrow to get all of the details from those affected. "

Sunday's drama began when repair work on the pipe which burst on Tuesday lead to a second burst on a joining pipe in the early hours, which left hundreds of people in parts of Bexley, Crayford, Dartford, Stone and Wilmington with very low water pressure or no supply at all.

People's water supplies began to return to normal at lunchtime and most of the water on the roads has been cleared, but diversions have been in place and no trains are running from Crayford station.

Southeastern has tweeted that replacement buses are not serving Crayford because of the flooding - they would usually be available from the town's Sainsbury's store.

Crayford Road remains shut, but stores at the Tower Retail Park are hopeful of opening for business again tomorrow.

Sports Direct, Pets at Home and Boots are said to have borne the brunt of the water, but the likes of Nandos, Game and Currys will all have missed out on a major day of trade due to the closure of the car park.

Although most homes affected should now have had their water supply restored, those still having problems can pick up water bottles from nearby locations, including Denton Park.

Thames Water senior operations manager Danny Leamon said: “This is an extremely difficult repair, due to the location and depth of the pipe, and we are very frustrated to have suffered this major setback."

The list of postcodes originally affected was DA1, DA2, DA4, DA5, DA6, DA8, DA9, DA14, DA15, DA16, and SE9. You can find a full list of water bottle pick-up locations on Thames Water's website.